The prisoners who escaped in a van were being driven to Tennessee by a private transportation company. All were recaptured after a 7-hour-manhunt.

CBS affiliate KWTV

(CBS/AP) TULSA, Okla. - A prisoner being driven across western Oklahoma dialed 911 Tueday to tell police that two other inmates had stolen an unattended transport van in an attempted escape.

Private transportation guards stopped at Weatherford Regional Hospital when a prisoner appeared to be sick. The guards left seven inmates in the van - with the engine still running. Two of them kicked out a partition, moved to the front of the van and drove it for about a mile before fleeing on foot, according to CBS affiliate KWTV.

Joshua Silverman, one of the inmates who was taken along for the ride, found a phone in the van and called 911.

Weatherford's assistant police chief says Silverman helped authorities narrow their search for the two escapees who were recovered nearby later that day.

According to the station, the cost of the 7-hour manhunt that included 80 officers from several law enforcement agencies came up to about $10,000.

The Weatherford Police Department reportedly said they will try to recover the cost from the private transportation company.